Customer Reviews

Which Version Is The Bible?

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

There are many books that deal with the issue of Bible versions. I've read a fair amount of them, and find most KJV only books make extreme assertions that they lose their validity.

This book is a great blend of scientific inquiry and faith. At the core of the book is the authors undaunted belief that God has actually preserved His Word, not by means of some scholars reconstructing it, but rather through the true church.

With solid credentials both in the scientific field and theological field, Dr. Jones demonstrates that we have God's Word. We don't have to hope the scholar reconstruct it at some point, but we can be assured that we have it now.

Being a Sunday School teacher, I was greatly blessed by reading this book as it settled the issue for me. Now I can study the Word with confidence, not having to constantly second guess whether the rendering of any particular version is correct.

Many of the statements of faith of churches and organizations have something like: "we believe that the Bible is inspired and infallible IN THE ORIGINALS". From this statement they build all their other doctrines. Well, who has the originals? So do we have God's Word? This is a serious question that Dr. Jones addresses.

When I was reading this book I compared what Dr. Jones wrote to what other side was saying. I found they either did not deal with the issue, or glossed over it, hiding it behind a bunch of scholarly jargon and textual variants. The key issue is preservation, and compare for yourself what Dr. Jones writes about preservation and what you read in the books defending the modern versions.

As a seminary student at one of the most conservative seminaries in the Southern Baptist Convention I experienced in my first year nearly every antic dote about seminaries Dr. Jones mentions in his book. During that same time I heard numerous professors and others who support the critical text insist that such things "never" happen at seminaries. Remarkably, due to my own personal research, I was often more knowledgeable than many of my professors on the subject of textual criticism and Bible versions. Being a degreed, licensed, and practicing engineer experienced in the scientific method, I found that these "experts" almost always lacked the ability to be truly objective and recognize the illogical, grossly unscientific reasoning of the methods employed in textual criticism. Even more remarkable is that I find the "experts" and "scholars" are the least interested in engaging in an objective discussion on the matter, and many pastors do not consider the subject significant. Most seem to consider the issue a technical argument over fine details - thinking that if it were all that important their seminary professors would have informed them. In reality the subject is never covered in the vast majority of seminary degree plans including the Ph. D. degree plans, and if covered only minuscule introductory generalities are discussed. I truly believe the church is experiencing the fulfillment of Isaiah 29:14, "... for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." I encourage every believer to read Dr. Jones' book, weigh the evidence, reach your own conclusion, and do not be intimidated by anyone who disagrees just because they hold an "authoritative" degree.

Now 2 1/2 years after writing this review,serving during that time as pastor of a small church in southeast Texas, and obtaining another degree myself, I have found no change in the matter. One of the most astounding things to me is the visceral reactions from "scholars" and "academia," so much so that I have come to lothe to be labeled a "scholar," which often occurs because of my position. The title has become something of a pejorative to me because of the lack of objectivity and pragmatism from scholarship in not only the discipline under discussion here, but also in so many others - more of Isaiah 29:14. Never do they reply with any objectivity or logic. The usual reply has something to do with them declaring their own expertise as the reason they are "right." There is rarely if ever any pragmatic response. Perhaps also because relatively few people care much about the actual seriousness of the issue.

Barry D. Adkins, MBA, M. Div., B.S. Houston, Texas

As a seminary student at one of the most conservative seminaries in the Southern Baptist Convention I experienced in my first year nearly every antic dote about seminaries Dr. Jones mentions in his book. During that same time I heard numerous professors and others who support the critical text insist that such things "never" happen at seminaries. Remarkably, due to my own personal research, I was often more knowledgeable than many of my professors on the subject of textual criticism and Bible versions. Being a degreed, licensed, and practicing engineer experienced in the scientific method, I found that these "experts" almost always lacked the ability to be truly objective and recognize the illogical, grossly unscientific reasoning of the methods employed in textual criticism. Even more remarkable is that I find the "experts" and "scholars" are the least interested in engaging in an objective discussion on the matter, and many pastors do not consider the subject significant. Most seem to consider the issue a technical argument over fine details - thinking that if it were all that important their seminary professors would have informed them. In reality the subject is never covered in the vast majority of seminary degree plans including the Ph. D. degree plans, and if covered only minuscule introductory generalities are discussed. I truly believe the church is experiencing the fulfillment of Isaiah 29:14, "... for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." I encourage every believer to read Dr. Jones' book, weigh the evidence, reach your own conclusion, and do not be intimidated by anyone who disagrees just because they hold an "authoritative" degree.

Barry D. Adkins, M. Div., B.S. Houston, Texas

This was the very first of many bible verse books that we have read. It was the first and the best. Do you ever wonder why there are so many different bible versions? Aren't they all the same? Didn't they all come from one source? Why do certain bible versions elliminate scripture? You will be shocked and amazed at the truth. A must read for anyone seeking the truth.

Jones' work is outstanding. I have read several books and papers on this topic including Waite, Burgon, Moorman (on the Textus Receptus side) and Metzger, Wallace and Erhman (on the Critical Text side). If you read one side you will likely be converted to that way of thinking, but if you read both sides AND allow the Holy Spirit to direct you can come to NO OTHER conclusion than that the Textus Receptus is the best New Testament Greek and the Masoretic is the best Old Testament Hebrew/Aramaic. I highly recommend readers read on both sides of this issue, because you will not fully understand the level of deception or the amount of speculation that is involved on the Critical Text side unless you do. Jones quotes other sources throughout his book and I have cross checked some of those sources to verify accuracy and he is exactly on target. The author digs in a little deeper than the other TR authors whom I have read regarding the backgrounds of some of the "bad guys" such as Origen, Westcott, and Hort which I found to be very helpful. Metzger and others typically ignore the best evidences and arguments for the Textus Receptus in their various writings. Someone once said that if you want to be successful in a debate, you must take on your opponents BEST arguments. The Critical Text people fail miserably on this point, but Jones has done a masterful job in taking down the best Critical Text arguments. Another point many readers will like about this book is that Jones doesn't quote a lot of Greek and Hebrew arguments like Burgon does which makes it easy for the common person to understand.

This book is an excellent work one of the best books on the subject I have read, it is reasonably easy to understand and it keeps your interest up all the way through. The book has a good balance and focus and it is the best starter book about this side of the debate that I have come across so far. I think this book can help spark an interest into looking into this topic a lot more.

This subject can tend to get complicated and tedious it takes a lot of expertise to know how to evaluate information on Bible manuscripts and understand the various positions involved. Yet we should make it understandable enough for people to get interested in it. You don't have to be a genius to see that there are some real problems with the modern methods of understanding Biblical manuscripts and it is rather alarming to see we have been trusting in the wrong people to sort this out for us.

This subject is a lot more serious than most believers realize yet you don't find too much zeal among God's people to understand these things. That is not surprising though, much of modern Christianity tends to deaden the zeal in people and replace it with an strong appetite for superficiality.

If one is looking for a straight forward, capsulated, easy to understand critique of the Bible Version Issue, this is the book to purchase. This work will save much time in sorting out and through everything that is out there, all of which is very good but time comsuming. I highly suggest the reader consider this great book. It is worth the sum of many others like it and produces answers quickly. A very easy format to read facillitates the ease of comprehension.

After reading Jones' "Chronology of the Old Testament" and loving almost every bit of it, I bought this book to investigate a nagging need to learn more of the critical text (CT)vs. the textus receptus)TR). The book starts out very "preachy" and shows the difference between the CT and the TR, which I thought was the wrong way to begin. He should have established his argument and then shown the difference. The content of his argument is well done and very thought provoking. I have always leaned more on the KJV but also use others as well (NAS, NIV). I will investigate further in this field but feel like I now know some of the basics of New Testament textual criticism arguments for the TR. This book is a real eye opener and I would recommend it to anyone who desires to find out more about God's word.

Answers all debates you may have on the KJB vs. NIV and many other translations.

This book is completely self serving, uninformative, and will only be enjoyed by people who already agree with his opinion thereby meaning this book has no purpose. Effective summary: "My theology is based on the KJV so it has to be the exact inspired word of god."